Another thread on this forum asks about oil pressure senders and gauges in a Jeep Wrangler. The consensus is that the sender is for an idiot light, since the gauge maintains the same oil pressure reading no matter what.
Well, my '97 Escort wagon has always done the same thing on the coolant temperature gauge. The needle will rise slowly when the car is started cold, until about 10 minutes later it gets to a position a bit less than halfway. Then it stays there while the car is running, whether it's hot or cold, snowing or sunny. On rare occasions in extreme cold the needle will not get to that point but will stay a bit below. It never goes above that point, even when idling with the air conditioning on in an outdoor asphalt parking lot on a 100-degree day when the hood is too hot to touch.
This concerns me because I just put a head gasket in the car. That was, I believe, the direct result of spot overheating from a coolant hose clamp failure caused by a mechanic stripping the clamp upon reinstallation. The head gasket failed in two spots, but cylinder 4, the farthest from the water pump, was in the worst shape--and it's right by the coolant senders. The temperature gauge never read above normal (so for a while after the clamp failure I thought I had escaped head gasket damage). And I know of someone else with a similar but older Escort wagon who lunched a head gasket by overheating, but he said his temp gauge never went above normal either.
Here's my question. Does what I describe indicate that Ford used an idiot light sender for the coolant temp gauge? Or could the engine software intercede to prevent the needle from going above a certain point? (This would be to prevent needle fluctuations that would cause owners to return the car to the dealer for nuisance warranty claims, as has been commented on the oil pressure gauge issue.) Is there a fix, such as a different sender, that will give real movement to the temp gauge?
[ May 27, 2004, 11:13 AM: Message edited by: ekrampitzjr ]
Well, my '97 Escort wagon has always done the same thing on the coolant temperature gauge. The needle will rise slowly when the car is started cold, until about 10 minutes later it gets to a position a bit less than halfway. Then it stays there while the car is running, whether it's hot or cold, snowing or sunny. On rare occasions in extreme cold the needle will not get to that point but will stay a bit below. It never goes above that point, even when idling with the air conditioning on in an outdoor asphalt parking lot on a 100-degree day when the hood is too hot to touch.
This concerns me because I just put a head gasket in the car. That was, I believe, the direct result of spot overheating from a coolant hose clamp failure caused by a mechanic stripping the clamp upon reinstallation. The head gasket failed in two spots, but cylinder 4, the farthest from the water pump, was in the worst shape--and it's right by the coolant senders. The temperature gauge never read above normal (so for a while after the clamp failure I thought I had escaped head gasket damage). And I know of someone else with a similar but older Escort wagon who lunched a head gasket by overheating, but he said his temp gauge never went above normal either.
Here's my question. Does what I describe indicate that Ford used an idiot light sender for the coolant temp gauge? Or could the engine software intercede to prevent the needle from going above a certain point? (This would be to prevent needle fluctuations that would cause owners to return the car to the dealer for nuisance warranty claims, as has been commented on the oil pressure gauge issue.) Is there a fix, such as a different sender, that will give real movement to the temp gauge?
[ May 27, 2004, 11:13 AM: Message edited by: ekrampitzjr ]
